Past Difficulties
by egbkid
Summary: Max and Logan go away for a weekend, and when they come back, everything has changed
1. Default Chapter

Welcome to 'Past Difficulties' It's totally unrelated to Child's Play and Child's Play 2. Like those, I own nothing but the plot and a few minor characters, I am but a poor Canadian, please do not sue me. Hope you enjoy it!  
-egbkid  
  
"Hey Logan, you ready to go?" Max walked into Logan's penthouse apartment, throwing her duffel on a chair. He didn't see him, so she walked into the computer room and found Logan typing. She put a hand on his shoulder and he jumped.  
"Max!" He yelled, turning. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in."  
"Whatcha working on?" Max asked, looking at the monitor.  
"Just some last minute research before we take off. Are you ready?" He turned back to the computer, typed in a few more words then shut the program off.   
"Yeah, I'm all ready. Let's go."  
"Just let me pack a few things." Logan went down the hall to his bedroom, Max following but stopping at the door.  
"You mean to tell me I've known about this trip for three days, you've probably known about it even longer, and you haven't even packed yet?"  
"It doesn't take long to pack for one night." Logan said from his dresser. He threw some clothes on his bed then went into the adjoining bathroom, coming out with a few things. He then went to a closet and grabbed a backpack and stuffed everything inside it, added his laptop and a glasses case then zipped it closed. "See? Five minutes, let's go." Max followed Logan out of the apartment and into the elevator, astonished at how long it took him to pack. It took her almost two hours to pack for their excursion. Logan had to go meet someone at a hotel in a small town a few hours outside Seattle, so he had invited Max along after she complained that all her friends were going to be busy that weekend.  
The drive to the hotel took longer then expected, because of a stubborn policeman at a checkpoint, but Logan arrived on time for his meeting. As he attended it, Max checked out what little the hotel had to offer, and while Logan slept, she checked out what the small town had to offer. It wasn't much, but she had a good weekend.  
They were about halfway back to Seattle when the car suddenly stalled. It rolled to a stop as Logan pulled over to the side of the road.   
"Damn!" He shouted, pounding the steering wheel. "I just had it checked out, what's wrong. He put it into park.  
"I'll check it out, pop the hood." He obeyed and Max looked at the engine. She couldn't see anything wrong at a glance, so she started poking around. Finding nothing wrong, she yelled at Logan. "Try starting it!" He tried and it started easily. Confused, Max closed the hood and got back into the car.   
"What was wrong?" Logan asked.  
"Nothing that I could see. It's strange. Maybe something just skipped for a second, and made it cut out. It's working now, let's go."   
"Alright. Is it me, or did it just seem to get nicer? The clouds disappeared." Logan observed as he pulled back onto the highway.  
"Yeah, it does seem nicer, maybe the sun will actually shine for an entire day."   
"What's that?" Logan saw something sitting on the side of the road. As they approached, it looked turned into someone standing, a backpack on and holding a sign that said 'Seattle' in big black letters.  
"Think we should pick him up?" Max asked as they approached the young man. "Why anyone would want to go into Seattle, I don't know, but there won't be anyone around for another couple of hours."  
"Yeah, maybe we should." He pulled over just beyond the man, who ran to catch up. Max got out of the Aztec and let the guy get into the backseat.   
"Nice wheels you have, man." The guy said. "Is it new?"  
"No, actually it's fairly old, but I've kept good care of it, so it's like new." Logan answered, looking at the man in the rear-view mirror.   
"Thanks for the ride. The name's Riley."  
"I'm Logan and this is Max. No problem on giving you a ride, though, another car won't be by for hours probably."  
"Nah, that road's pretty well used, but it's the time of year. I should have waited a month, the road will be packed. You live in Seattle?" He asked, running a hand through his shaggy hair.  
"Yeah, I have my whole life."  
"Yeah? I have to; I'm just off visiting some family. I live in Foggle Towers."  
"I don't recall ever seeing you there. That's where I live as well." Logan said. He was starting to get confused. They should have passed a police checkpoint by now, but he hadn't seen one since the car had stalled.   
"Weird. Well, we actually just moved in about a month ago. I was only there two days before I left. Now I gotta get a job for the rest of the summer, before I go back to school."  
"Good luck." Max mumbled, barely paying attention to anything around her. She was string at the guys strange clothes. He was wearing a very colourful shirt, like one that Herbal Thought would wear; it had a huge smiley face on it. He also wore a pair of faded blue jeans. On his feet were a pair of sandals, something most people wouldn't wear these days, and especially not travel in. His backpack had little key chain toys hanging all over it, Max thought that style went out with the Pulse, because you couldn't get them anymore. "Maybe you should apply at Jam Pony. It's where I work, I could persuade my boss to hire you, but I'll warn you, Normal's a jerk."  
"What kind of name is Normal?" Riley asked, giving a weird look.  
"It's a nickname. God knows how he got it, cause he's far from normal."  
They approached a sign welcoming people to Seattle. Logan was surprised. He recalled them tearing that down to build the checkpoint. 'What is going on?' he thought. As they passed it, Logan spoke up.  
"Max. We've only been away twenty-four hours. When did they put that sign up?"  
"That sign's been there for almost fifty years!" Riley interrupted from the back seat.  
"But I thought they tore it down back in oh nine."  
"What are you talking about? 'oh-nine'? Oh, right, sorry, I forgot. Some people are calling the new millennium years oh-whatever, but I hate to break it to ya, but 'oh nine' hasn't come yet. It's still only oh one!"  
"Max, I forgot we said we'd stop into my uncle's on our way home. Riley, can you get home from here?" Logan asked, pulling over at the city limits.  
"Sure, I guess I can find the way. Can you draw me a map, though?" Max let him out of the car as Logan drew in a notebook Riley had given him. It wasn't far to Foggle towers, so it wasn't difficult to show him the way. After Riley had walked off, Logan turned to Max.  
"I think we have a problem, Max."  
  
To Be Continued...  



	2. Cash

Thanks for all the good reviews for part one of this story. Someone told me that where Logan lives is spelled Fogle, not Foggle, the way I have been spelling it. Thank you for informing me, but I have seen it spelled both ways, and just picked one, like Zack and Zach. Same guy, but people spell it different ways. This one's really short, so I'll see about getting another chapter up tonight. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.   
-egbkid  
  
"Did that guy jut say what I thought he said?" Max asked, watching Riley walk away.   
"I'm not sure, but it sounds like we somehow hopped to the year 2001." Mumbled Logan as he turned the car around and started out of the city.  
"Where are we going?"  
"Just outside the city, so we can stop and think without paying parking or getting towed."  
He parked the car on the side of the highway. Traffic was light here, but still busy compared to what they were used to.   
"Wow, there are a lot of cars." Max said, she had never seen so many, especially on this highway.  
"This isn't busy, Max" explained Logan, who remembered when he had visited New York when he was ten. Bumper to bumper traffic on some highways, and everyone was still going at 100. "But that's beside the point, we have to figure out what happened to us. Riley said it was still the year 2001, but a few hours ago, it was 2020. That's a problem."  
"Logan, that kid was probably trying to freak us out, and obviously it's working. There is no way we could have 'hopped' into the year 2001. No way."  
"Um, Max. Have you been paying attention to anything since the car stalled back there on the highway? There have been no police checkpoints since. The 'Welcome to Seattle' sign is still up, and there should be a huge police checkpoint instead!"  
"Whatever."  
"Max." Logan sighed. In order to do anything in the city, they would need money. But Post Pulse money was different than that used before the Pulse. "We need money. And you can't just go out and steal something, because that could alter the course of history, then we'd really be in trouble."  
"Calm down, Logan. It'll be all right. Don't you have any cash on you, you usually do."   
"Um. They changed the currency after the Pulse. Other than that, I have almost a hundred dollars, but we can't use it here."  
"Are you sure you have no leftover cash from way back then?"  
"Yes, Max, I'm sure. And besides if I did, it would be in my apartment, not in my car."  
"How far is it into the city?" Max asked, looking at the skyline and the small houses around them.  
"About a quarter mile. Why?"  
"Gimmie your cash, and stay here, I'll see what I can do. I'll be back in about an hour. Relax. Find something to do."  
"What are you going to do?" asked Logan as he handed Max the cash.  
"Don't worry, I'll have us some cash in no time." She got out of the car and started running towards the city, Logan watching her disappear. He was a little worried about her, because she wasn't used to pre Pulse life. About two seconds after she disappeared, he worried, and then drove off after her.  
  
To Be Continued...  



	3. Seattle

Soory it's taking so long between chapters on this one, but I'm really busy. I have time in the next couple of days, so you'll probably see this expand a lot, for now, enjoy!  
-egbkid  
  
Once Logan caught up to Max, he made her get in the car. He asked her what the plan was, and she just told him to drive to the nearest hotel. He did that and waited outside, worrying about what Max would do with all that cash. After leaving him sitting in the car for about half an hour, she finally came out and joined him.  
"All done." Max announced, handing Logan almost a hundred and fifty dollars in cash.   
"What did you do? How did you get more money than what we started out with?"  
"I told them it was from another country, and was worth fifty cent's on the dollar."  
"What country's money is worth more than American money?"  
"Canadian." Max smiled, buckling her seatbelt. "Let's go."  
"Max. In the year 2001, Canadian money was worth less than American, almost forty cents less, if I remember correctly."  
"Then I guess those tourists from Texas I just sold it to are out of luck. I over heard them talking that they were going to Canada and hadn't changed their money yet, and didn't know how much it was worth. So I sold it to them, now let's go before they catch on."  
Logan sighed and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot.   
"Everything was so nice back then, and it's even sunny. No piles of garbage lining the streets, no people standing around fires in garbage cans. No graffiti."  
"Wait until after dark. Seattle is and has always been just like any other city. And we can't stay in a hotel on only a hundred and fifty dollars. Guess we're on the streets tonight."  
"Well, that's four hours away." Max said glancing at her watch.  
"Over seven, actually. In 2001, we had this little thing called Daylight Savings Time. The clocks would go foreword an hour in the spring, and back an hour in the fall. Makes the evenings longer in the summer."   
"Cool. Now how old were you in 2001?" she asked, turning to Logan, "And where are we going?"  
"I don't know where we are going. I'm just looking around. It's been more almost ten years since I saw Seattle like this."  
"And how old were you? You grew up here, didn't you? Maybe we'll see you, as a kid I mean."  
"I was hardly a kid, Max. Here, I will be thirteen in a few months. I was already in boarding school...'  
"But it's summertime. School's out."  
"Boarding school starts early and ends late. Chances are 'I' am still there."  
"Really. What don't you want me to see?"  
"Nothing, Max. Anyway, we have to find a place to stay tonight, or at least a place we can park for the night."  
"There are plenty of parking lots around, Logan, just pick one."   
"It's not that easy, Max, you just can't park in any old parking lot overnight, you'll have the cops after you. You don't know how different it really was nineteen years ago."  
Max turned and stared out the window. "I was only one year old. And still at Manticore. I wish there was a way we could destroy Manticore from here. Make all the torture never happen. The escape that night. Eva and Jack would not have died..."  
"Hey, I have my laptop, maybe it's possible that it will work, after all I did receive it for my thirteenth birthday. I might be able to get some stuff about what's going on at Manticore." Logan interrupted. "We can go into a mall until it closes, then we can find a place to stay." Max turned to Logan again.  
"Do you think it will work? I mean, it's a pretty tight organization."  
"Who knows, but there's only one way to find out. If I remember correctly, there is a mall about four blocks from here, but it was torn down in oh-six." Max looked out the window again, to see if she could compare any of the surroundings to her home. She noticed that they were really close to Logan's building. 'I wonder if he noticed he was going home.' She thought. 'I'll have to check it out later.'  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
  



	4. Children

  
  
They sat at a table in the mall, Logan typing furiously on his laptop and Max looking bored. Logan only paused long enough to eat a French fry once in a while from the large cardboard container sitting on the table beside his computer.  
"Mmmm. Max, you should really try one of these fries. They're the best in the world, and it's been so long since I've had them."  
"No thanks. They look way to greasy to be good. The grease is soaking your napkin!"  
"You don't know what you're missing." He went back to his computer. He had already found a little bit about Manticore, but it was a cover-up, and he was having a hard time getting any deeper.   
Meanwhile, Max was getting bored watching all the people run around, some pulling little children, all hauling large bags stuffed full of things bought. She got an idea.  
"Logan?"  
"Hmm?" grabbing another fry and not even looking up from his monitor.  
"Is it alright if I go look around for a little while? You know, we might be stuck here for a bit, an I might as well get used to the place." Logan glanced up.  
"Sure. But you should stay in the mall. Why don't we meet back here in a couple of hours, and we can get dinner."   
"Not at that fast food place, I hope." Logan just smiled.   
"Be careful. Here's some money in case you want to buy a souvenir."   
"Ten dollars? You're cheep."  
"Have fun!" Logan smiled then went back to his computer and fries. Max got up from the table and walked away. It didn't matter how much he had given her, she had plans.  
  
  
Max walked out of the mall and across the parking lot. She hadn't seen so many cars in one place since just after she had escaped Manticore. As she passed Logan's Aztec, Max decided to leave it there. She could get to where she was going faster on foot, and if Logan came out to get something from the car and it was gone, he might figure out where Max had went.  
Walking out of the parking lot, Max decided to do the old fashioned thing and walk, rather than jump from building to building. It would be difficult to carry out her plan because it was daytime, so as she walked, Max thought of how she was going to stay hidden. Rounding the last corner, Max looked up at the familiar building. She noticed a couple of other people on the sidewalk glanced up too, to see what she was looking at. 'Human nature.' Max thought, and she crossed the street.  
  
  
As Max stood at the door of the building thinking, a dark haired girl walked up. The doorman stopped her and she said she was a new babysitter for the family in the penthouse; she would only be there for an hour and a half as a trial as the parents went to the supermarket. Max wondered what a supermarket was as a plan formed in her head. As the guard helped an older woman Max recognized out the door, she slipped inside. The girl was waiting for the elevator, so Max walked up to her.   
"Hi." She greeted the girl.  
"Hello."  
"You live here?" Max asked.  
"No, actually, this is the first time I've ever been here, I'm babysitting in one of the penthouses. Do you live here?"  
"Yeah, but there's only one pent house in this building, and I've babysat for them before."  
"Really? I've heard their twelve year old is rowdy."  
"Rowdy?" Max asked, "You wouldn't believe it! And his parents usually come home an hour early, just to check up on you, and they won't pay you for almost a week after you baby-sit, until they can get the entire low-down from the neighbours."  
"Wow..."  
"Did you know they have the entire apartment wired? You know, in case you try to do something. Someone I know was almost sent to juvie hall for 'reckless abandonment' because the kid hid and she couldn't find him. When the parents came home, he said she had told him they would play hide and seek, but then she wouldn't look for her."  
"Sounds nasty." The girl said, as the elevator arrived.  
"Hey good luck. How long they said they'd be gone?"  
"An hour and a half, why?"   
"That's what they told me, then they got home half an hour later. A week later, they sent me a check in the mail for five dollars. They told me I would be paid twenty an hour, and they couldn't even walk what little they did pay me down two floors! You DON'T want to baby-sit for this family, believe me!"  
"You know what? I just remembered I had a doctor's appointment I can't cancel, nice talking to ya!"  
"You to!" Max yelled, slipping into the elevator and pressing the penthouse button as the girl went across the lobby to the door. When she got to the top, Max rang the bell.  
"Melissa, is that you?" a voice came over the speaker.  
"Yes, I'm sorry if I'm a little late." Max answered back; she heard a beep and the doors swung open into the familiar apartment. The rooms were a little different, but this was defiantly the pent house apartment of Foggle Towers. The place where he grew up. 'And the woman and man coming towards me must be his parents.' Max thought. They looked frazzled.  
"Melissa, We're running a little late, so we have to go right away. We'll try not to be more than an hour and a half. The children are in their bedrooms, if you need anything, ask Logan, he's a big help. Nice meeting you, and thanks for coming on such short notice!" The woman talked constantly as her husband helped her into her coat, and then they were out the door and in the waiting elevator.  
"Wow." Max said, looking around. She went into the kitchen, and everything was the same as it would be in twenty years, except the table had tall chairs, like stools with backs. "Everything looks new, though."   
"That's because it is. Usually the baby sitter does not go straight to the kitchen. Are you hungry, I could fix you something." Max turned around quickly. Behind her stood a small boy, he looked similar to Logan, but he said he was twelve, this boy looked about eight.  
"Logan?"   
"No, actually, I'm Sean. Logan is in the bedroom helping Erin. They will be here shortly." He said, sitting at the table. He looked at Max's confused face. "Did Mother forget to tell you there are three of us? Sometimes she does that."  
"No, actually, she did tell me there was more than one child here, but she didn't say how many. How old are you, Sean?"  
"I am nine years, one month and three days old. And you?"  
"Twenty." Max answered, sitting at the table across from him.  
"So you were born in 1981?"  
"Um..." she quickly did the math, "Yeah, 1981, in January, actually. And how old are Logan and Erin?"  
"Logan is..."  
"Twelve, and Erin is seven. Is he boring you with his smart talk?"  
Max turned to the voice. Logan stood in the doorway behind his much smaller sister, then Max noticed he was actually holding her up, his hands under her arms so she could stand.  
"I'm Logan, and this is Erin." He shuffled one foot forward and Erin slowly took small steps towards the table, When they got there, Logan lifted her up on one of the stools, then sat down beside her on another. She gave Max a wide smile. "And you are?"  
"Oh, sorry, I'm M..." then Max remembered, "Melissa. It's nice to meet you all."  
"It is nice to meet you, too, Melissa. Where do you come from?"  
"Sean, stuff it. He thinks he's smart just cuz he goes to a big boarding school in Ireland. Yeah, ya gotta be smart to get in there, but he likes to show off sometimes." Erin started giggling.  
"Logan, that is not nice to say. I will ignore it. But, I must leave; I have some schoolwork to attend to. It was nice meeting you, Melissa."  
"I thought it was summer, why does he have to do school work?" Max asked as Sean left the kitchen.   
"Like I said, a big boarding school in Ireland. He'll be going back in a few weeks to start the fall semester, but they keep sending him schoolwork in the mail over the summer. I think it sucks, we prefer public school, although our parents don't approve much."  
"Really?"  
"Yup. Can we go watch cartoons?" Max wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, so she agreed. Logan got up and crouched in front of Erin, who slid herself onto his back. She threw her arms around his neck and he stood up. Max followed them into the living room, where Logan deposited Erin on a couch and sat down beside her. "Sit down." He said, so she did. He picked up a little device she knew to be a remote control, from the couch and turned on the television. In her time, the only thing you could find on television was news, sports or Eyes Only. The show that came on was very colourful and obviously not real. It was about a bunch of kids and little monsters that became bigger monsters and fought other monsters. As they watched, Max thought of how she could get this young Logan alone so she could talk to him.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  



	5. Talk

Here's Part five, I'm sorry that this story is taking so long, thanks for all the good reviews, though!  
-egbkid  
  
As the cartoon ended, Max realized her stomach was growling. She saw Erin rubbing her tummy, but Logan was to absorbed in the television to notice.  
"Are you hungry?" Max asked Erin, who looked at her and shyly nodded.  
"Me too. Do you want to go find something to eat?" She shook her head, and then Logan spoke up.  
"Her favourite cartoon is coming on next. Why don't we go get something to eat while she watches it?" This was the perfect time to get him alone to talk, so Max agreed. They went into the kitchen and started looking through cupboards; Max was amazed by the variety of food behind the doors.   
"What's Erin's favourite show about?" she asked, looking in the freezer.  
"Some silly girls transforming into super girls and trying to save their little world. It's kind of a past-present-future thing. It has talking cats to."  
"Sounds strange." Max dug out some ice cream and held it up; Logan nodded and went to a cupboard to get some cones.   
"It is, but she likes it. Most girls her age do, and she has just about every toy from the show. Then there's Sean, who thinks watching cartoons is a waste of time."  
"Really. I've never really watched any cartoons before, but that show we just watched was pretty good. I didn't quite understand it though."  
"You have to follow it every day, it's like a continuing story." Logan explained as he scooped some ice cream onto a cone.   
"Cool. So, have you lived in Seattle long?"  
"Just my whole life. In this same apartment, actually. We've never moved, and we probably never will, Dad loves it way up here, but I don't really."  
"Why not?" Max asked, taking the first cone from Logan so he could scoop another.  
"It's to high. I don't like heights very much. Have you lived her long?"  
"I just moved here a while ago. I really like it here."  
"Where did you live before?"  
"Oh, actually, I moved around a lot. So why does Sean go to a private s school when you and Erin go to Public?"  
"Well," Logan started, handing her another cone, "Sean actually begged to go to this big school in Ireland. One of his friends was sent there, and Sean couldn't handle the separation, so Mom and Dad sent him to. He really likes it, but he acts smart all the time. Erin thinks it's funny...Go ahead, ask."  
"Ask what?"  
"What's wrong with Erin. She had meningitis when she was a baby. Her legs were supposed to get better, and they did. She was two, and was sick for a long time. Finally, she was better, but wouldn't talk and couldn't walk. She learned how to walk again and was just like other kids her age by the time she was five, except for she still wouldn't talk. The doctors say she is capable, but she doesn't. About six months ago, she started falling a lot. Her legs weren't working right. Nobody can figure out why, but it's getting worse. About three weeks ago, she could support herself on crutches, now, as you saw when you first got here, she can barely move them. For some reason, she's just getting weaker. She's had every test, so much that now she is afraid to go to the doctor's, and no one knows what's wrong." Logan handed her the third cone that had been melting in his hand, then he quickly closed the container and stuffed it in the freezer, threw the spoon in the sink and grabbed two of the cones from Max. He led her back into the living room where he gave one of the cones to his sister then sat down beside her. Max sat down on the other side of her.   
She licked the ice cream; it was green and tasted like mint, with chocolate chips through it. It had been so long since she had had ice cream, and she had never had this type. She noticed Logan pick up a napkin from the coffee table in front of them and help Erin wipe some of the dripping ice cream from her hands. 'He really cares for his sister.' She thought, 'but how come he never talks about her?'  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
  



	6. Manticore

Here's Part six, it's really short, though. I'm not sure if Jack was ever mentioned in the show or not, but he is the kid that was taken away because he had seizures, when Max snuck into the operating room and saw Lydecker drinking coffee while they were doing an operation. I just don't know if I got the name Jack from the show, or from someone else's fanfic. If the name was someone elses, I'm sorry for taknig it, there is no harm intended, and if you wish me to change it, I will.  
-egbkid  
  
By the time Logan's parents got home and she got back to the mall, Max was half an hour late. But she was twenty-five dollars richer. Logan was till absorbed in his computer, his fries long gone, and he barely looked up when Max sat down across from him.  
"Whatcha find?" she asked, putting a hand in front of his monitor to make him look up.  
"Not much, you're right, they do have very tight security at Manticore."  
"Told ya. I got us some more money. Here." She handed Logan the twenty-five plus the ten that he had given her earlier.   
"How did you get the money?"  
"Babysitting. These really cute kids. They want me back tomorrow, but I told them I'd call, that I had to ask my parents. You know, people my age still live with their parents now."  
"Yeah, I know. Most people your age are still in school." He put the money in his wallet, "Now, about what I found. At the moment, you are ten months old, and there are four others your age. Zack and Tinga are almost two and are already in training. According to the schedule that I have found, you will start training along with Syl and two others when you turn one. And it will begin with stuff like schoolwork and little exercises to get your strength up. In fact, you already have a vigorous workout schedule, which puts you ahead in development by about two months compared to other children your age."  
"The DNA splicing probably also has something to do with it." Max interrupted. "What else did you find?"  
"Not much, except for a list of all the X5s, there are only two younger than you, and about thirty older than you. All ranging from six months up to 45 months.'   
"Thirty three? All I remember is about twenty of us, and Jack was the only one younger than me and Syl, I don't remember anyone else being our age, either."  
"Then what..."  
"Weeded out, because they weren't good enough. Experimented on so the rest of us could be improved. Is there any way we could take them out, from here, I mean."  
"I don't know, Max. They have really tight security, and you're the only one who could get in. It took four of you to take it out twenty years from now, and Zack..."  
Max interrupted Logan again, "I know, Logan, but in twenty years, there will be X7s and adult X5s at Manticore. Now there are only baby X5s, and if I recall, all the other X series were no good. What we called Nomalies."  
"You're right. There would be no resistance like what you could give. But would you be able to do it?"  
"I know what to take out, Lydecker told us, remember?"  
"And the children? There are over thirty kids in there. Babies, Max, what are we going to do with them?"  
"We'll figure that out when we get there..."  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  



	7. Past

Thanks for all the great reviews! Enjoy part seven, and I alrady have ideas for a sequal, although I don't know how I'm going to end this! :-)  
-egbkid  
  
  
"You do realize how much this is going to change the future, don't you? I mean, we might never meet, then that would mean we wouldn't come back and, whoa…'  
"Blah, blah, woof, woof, whatever, Logan. Don't get into all that past-future crap. It's to confusing." Max and Logan were now driving out of Seattle towards Wyoming and Manticore. They had spent the night in the car, Logan sleeping and Max keeping vigil, although Logan did not know that. Max had called Mr and Mrs Cale and told them she could not baby-sit, that her father said she had to go to a family outing or something. She had been looking forward to spending more time with Logan and his siblings, though.  
That morning while Max had gotten everything ready for their trip, Logan had disappeared for an hour. Max had a feeling of where he had gone, but she wasn't going to say anything. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.   
"Max, you wanna check that map again, I'm not to sure which exit to take." She grabbed the map off the dashboard and opened it, moving her finger along their trail.   
"Um, the next one. We could take this one, but the other one is closer to where we are going."  
"Ok, then we'll take the next one."  
"Sounds good to me." Max refolded the map and put it away. They drove in silence for a while, each in their own thoughts, until Logan spoke.  
"You know. I was thinking about that guy we picked up yesterday. He asked me if my car was new."  
"Yeah, and you told him it wasn't. It's about twenty years old, isn't it?"  
"Well, yes and no. In one month, my father will buy this car for my family. So really, it's brand new. It's a 2002 Aztec."  
"Uh, I thought we were in 2001." Max said, rolling the window down to get some air.  
"We are, but they used to start making cars in about June the year before, so they will start selling 2002 cars in a little while. It's strange, but true."  
"This year is weird."   
"Well, I guess, but if someone from this time came to the future, they would think it was strange."  
"So this used to be the family car?" asked Max, changing the subject.  
"Yeah. I remember sitting in the crowded back seat, driving to the airport…"  
"Crowded back seat? Why was it crowded, you weren't that big a kid, were you?" Although Max knew that Logan was remembering sitting in the backseat with Sean and Erin, she wasn't going to let on.   
"No, Max." he smiled sadly. "That's not what I meant. I have a feeling you know what I am talking about, or rather whom."  
"No…"  
"Max, please don't lie. I know where you were yesterday. You said you were babysitting, and most people wouldn't let any stranger just walk in off the street and take care of their kids."  
"Logan, I'm sorry. I was just curious. But what do you mean by most people?"   
"My mom was so absent minded, she never noticed how experienced a person was, or even how old they were. My father just didn't care, so long as there was someone there."  
"Really?" Logan pulled over onto the shoulder of the road.  
"If we're going to discuss this, we might as well do it now," he said, turning to Max, "Yes, really. So what did you think?"  
"You seemed like a very intelligent child. And your brother, wow."  
Logan smiled at the memory, "Yeah, he was always showing off. Believe it or not, by this time next year, he'll come home with an accent."  
"Really? That must have made him sound sophisticated."  
"Yeah, a sophisticated ten year old. By then, though, he had stopped showing off his intelligence. It was just there."  
"Didn't you say yesterday morning that you would have been at private school by now? According to your younger self, you attend public school, and it does not exactly make your father pleased."  
"I said that so you wouldn't go off doing what you did." Logan answered, turning away, "I wasn't sure if I wanted you to know about my family."  
"Logan," Max put a hand on his shoulder, "Your family was one of the nicest I have ever met. I have babysat a lot of children, and believe me, you guys were the best behaving yet. Sean went to his room and did schoolwork, and we watched cartoons. Now that's strange television."  
"Really." Logan turned back to face Max, "What cartoons did you watch?"  
"One about some little monsters, and one about a bunch of superheroes with weird names, oh and one about a bunch of girls and talking cats."  
"Erin's favourite." Logan mumbled. He looked very sad.  
"Yeah, that's what you told me. Are you alright?"  
"Yes. It's just that I miss then so much."  
"What happened?" she lowered her voice, because he looked like he wanted to cry.  
"Were you told what was wrong? With Erin, I mean." He looked away again, staring off into the distance.  
"Yes. You said she had something called meningitis when she was a baby, then got better, and for some reason just started getting worse again. Was it the meningitis?"  
"No. Meningitis was something that was mostly caught by children, but adults could get it too. We were all vaccinated against it, but somehow, Erin got it. It attacks the spine and brain. The child that gave it to Erin actually died. It usually leaves the person permanently disabled, brain damage, spinal damage, blindness or deafness. Erin was lucky, and was able to relearn to walk, and it left no permanent damage because it was caught early. She had Sean and me behind her all the way. By the time I was fifteen, meningitis was all but wiped out, like polio. But that's not what was wrong with Erin. She had all the blood tests available. My father stopped at nothing to find out what was wrong, but no one knew. She just kept getting weaker and weaker. Finally, about three days before her eighth birthday, she died. It was all she could barely do was wake up in the mornings. She was stuck in bed for almost two months before she died. I missed a lot of school that year, just sitting at home with her, keeping her company. My parents hired a babysitter nurse, but she didn't keep Erin company. I snuck back in after my parents left for work to sit with Erin. She was so sad and lonely. After she died, they found out it was her heart. For some reason, it was weak, and not working right. If they had checked that, she could have received a heart transplant, and maybe…" Logan trailed off, he turned back to Max, tears in his eyes, "As for Sean, he's still in Ireland. He didn't really come home much after Erin died, and he met someone when he was fifteen. They eventually married, but I haven't seen him since. They still live in Ireland and I know they have two kids. One is five, and she looks exactly like Erin. Sean wrote me once and said every time he looks at her he remembers Erin and feels like crying."  
"I sort of know how you feel, loosing Eva and Jack, and even Tinga and Zack were some of the hardest times I have lived through. I wish I could have gotten to know Erin more. She seemed like such a sweet child. Maybe there's something we can do to help her, too."  
"Max, do you realize what could happen? As is, we are screwing up the future. Just going there and babysitting me could have done something to screw everything up. And what we are going to do now is an entirely different story. And we still haven't figured out what to do with all those babies at Manticore when we get them out!"  
"We could open an orphanage." Max said, smiling. Logan leaned back in his seat and put his face in his hands. He started shaking and Max thought he was crying. "Are you alright?" she asked, putting her hand on his wrist. He pulled his hands away and she discovered he was laughing.   
"Max, you are something, you know that?"  
  
To Be Continued…   
  



	8. Going In

This is probably going to be the second to last chapter, I hope you enjoy it, and the sequal will be coming soon!  
-egbkid  
  
They continued to drive towards Manticore, with Logan constantly bringing up the subject of how this was going to change the future. Max just told him to forget it, anything was better then living through nine years of Manticore. Just after the crossing the border into Wyoming, they stopped in a small town. Logan filled the car with gas and got something to eat. By the time it was dark, Logan was almost asleep where he sat, so they went to the car and spent another night there. The next morning they continued to drive through Wyoming and the air force base that housed Manticore.  
A few days after arriving in the year 2001, Logan and Max drove into Cheyenne. The air force base was a ways outside the city, but they decided to stay there for the night to figure things out. They sat in another mall, Logan glued to his computer and Max eating his fries. About half way between Seattle and Cheyenne, Max gave in and tried his 'perfect fries', and had since gotten addicted to them. Logan looked up from his computer to Max.  
"This is not going to be easy, Max." he said, "but it appears the DNA lab is in the same place it was last time. But this time, you are going to have to get explosives and break into the lab, because we don't have the same 'access' that we did."  
"I know, Logan. This is a big city, I'll see if I can get some explosives tonight, even if it's just fireworks."  
"And we don't have the technology that we had last time, either, so you might get caught on camera. And as for the children…"  
"Right. There's a bus that they used to use to take us from building to building when we had to go across the compound, until we were old enough to march, that is. Maybe I can recruit some help and get all the children on it."   
"I hope this works." Logan said, closing his computer and reaching for a fry.  
"It will, you worry to much. I'll get the stuff we need tonight, then tomorrow night we can gas up the car and I'll go in."  
  
  
"Logan, can you hear me?" Max crouched in the darkness behind the perimeter fence. As she looked around the compound, she tested the comm. unit that connected her to Logan, who sat in the car.   
"Loud and clear, where are you?"  
"I'm just about to jump the fence." She proceeded to jump over it. "I'm in." Looking around, Max discovered she could cause a power outage in the entire base, she decided to do that, but first she would have to recruit some help.   
"Logan, I see a couple of people over by the bus, I'm going over to see if I might be able to get their help."  
"Be careful." Max slowly walked in the shadows towards where the bus was parked. She partially circled the driveway and came up behind the bus where she could hear the two people talking, and crouched behind one of the wheels in the darkness. Then she noticed there were three people, not just two.  
" Hey, Pete, why don't you go get us some coffee? These night shifts are a bitch."  
"Sure, no problem." One of the guys slowly walked away towards one of the buildings that Max presumed housed the staff cafeteria.   
"Finally, he's gone. Jerk."  
"I hear ya. He's so loyal, it's like he's got some sort of stick shoved…"  
"Hey, Mat, don't be that way. He was just brought up in a soldier family, expected to follow orders an' stuff, so that's the way he is. But I still think he's a jerk. If he knew what we wanted to do, he'd be running to the boss so fast."  
"I know, he's a squealer, all right. But it's not right, what they're doing to those kids." Max's ears perked up at this sentence. "I mean, some of the stuff they put those poor babies through, it's a shame. If the outside world knew, this place would be torn down so fast…"  
I know, but there's no way." Max stood up from her hiding place and continued to listen, "Look at the way they have this place set up, we'd never get out the front door."  
"I can help." Max said, stepping out. The men jumped and pointed their guns at Max.  
"Who are you?" She put her hands up, showing that she had no weapons.  
"My name is Max. I've come to try and rescue the children here. All the X5s."  
"How do you know about them?" one asked, eyeing her suspiciously.   
"Believe it or not, I am an X5. I'm from the future, 2020. And I've come to get me and my siblings out of here, but I need your help. As well as anyone else that can give help."  
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" the other asked, keeping his gun aimed at Max. She jumped and did a roundhouse kick to disarm them. The guns went flying.  
"Is that proof enough?" she asked. They looked shocked, "Ok, how about this?" Max turned and pulled her hair away from her neck, showing her barcode.  
"My God Mat, she's telling the truth. She is an X5, all grown up. We'll help, but what about Pete? He's a rat, and he'll be back with the coffee soon."  
"I'll take care of him. You round up as many friends as you can and meet here. Go quickly and quietly, and be sure no one who will rat hears your plan." Max disappeared into the shadows again.  
The two soldiers turned and quietly walked into the darkness towards the buildings just as Pete came back yelling. "Hey Mat, Terry, where'd you go?" That's when Max snuck up behind him and put him to sleep. The three abandoned coffee cups rolled under the bus as Max once again disappeared into the shadows and waited.  
  
To Be Continued...  



	9. Ka Boom

Here's the last chapter, but there is an Epilogue. If I missed any names from the show, yell at me, and I'll change one of the names I made up with it. Enjoy!  
  
In about fifteen minutes, Max saw Terry and Mat coming back, behind them were three others, two wearing nurses uniforms, and one other a solder like them. As they approached, Max stepped out of the darkness. She led the group of five into an area that was dark so they wouldn't be seen, then started talking."  
"Ok, guys, I'm Max, and I need your help to get the X5 babies out and to safety. Do any of you know how to drive the bus?"  
"I do," Mat said.   
"Ok, you'll be the driver. Don't leave until all the children are on the bus, unless I say so. If something happens to me, you are to leave with as many of the children as you can, and as quickly as you can." The two nurses were in charge of the babies after midnight, and they said that cameras were on all night in the nursery, but no one was observing from midnight until six am. Max looked at her watch and it said 11:30, so they had half an hour to make the plan, and six hours to put it into action. The nurses also said they were constantly taking the babies to another room to change diapers, as only two of the children were already toilet trained. Mat, Terry and the other soldier, Jake, said someone would patrol that hall every hour, glance through the window of the room, but they were not allowed to go in, in case they woke the sleeping babies. They also said they could get Max into the DNA lab. Meanwhile, Logan was trying to hack into the security cameras and replace it with data from the night before, just in case. He was having a hard time, though, because the technology in 2001 was a bit better than that in 2020, even though Manticore had good funding.   
They decided they would have to move six or more babies an hour and have them all on the bus and waiting to leave by 5 am, that way they would have an extra hour to destroy the DNA lab and get out. One of the nurses on duty would take one of the children and get it ready by changing the diaper and dressing them, while the other nurse made the bed so it looked like the baby was still sleeping. The nurse would then take the baby and bring it to Max, who was waiting in the next hall. Max would put the baby carefully in a backpack and carry the baby out of the building to Terry, who would take the baby to the bus. Then Max would go get the next baby, who was being prepared. Jake was standing guard at the bus, and Mat was waiting at the bus to receive the babies and get them in their car seats. As the nurses went to report for duty, Max hoped their plan would go off without a hitch.  
  
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Two hours later, Max saw the night guard coming down the hall towards her. She had just gotten back from delivering baby number sixteen, who had turned out to be Jack, and was standing waiting for the next. The guard glanced in the room that the nurse was in, changing the baby, then walked a few steps and glanced into the nursery, where it appeared the other nurse was tucking in a baby from being changed. Before he could see her, Max did what she had done the last time he had come by. She jumped to the ceiling of the hallway and spread her arms and legs so she hung there above him. He passed underneath her without a glance. Just as he turned the corner, the nurse came out of the changing room. She walked down the hall to where she was supposed to meet Max, but didn't see her.  
"Max?" she whispered. Max jumped down in front of her, clamping a hand over her mouth before she screamed.  
"Shh. Don't worry. Everything's going great so far." Max whispered back. She took the baby and looked at her barcode. It was one she didn't recognize, so she put her in her backpack and thought of a name as she took her to Terry. As she passed the baby to him, she got an idea, and whispered a name in his ear, as she had been doing with all the other children. She watched as Terry made it to the bus then turned and walked back to get baby number 18. 'So far so good.' She thought.  
"How's it going out there?" Max asked through her comm. unit. When there was no answer, she spoke louder. "Logan?" She heard a slight jump, and knew Logan had been dozing. Laughing to herself, Max asked him again how everything looked outside. To him, everything seemed fine. 'Only a few more hours to go before we blow up the joint.'  
  
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At 4:30, the last baby was loaded into the bus. Max had to avoid the guard twice more, one of those times with a baby on her back. The nurses stayed in the nursery in case someone came along while Max and Terry went after the DNA lab.  
After Terry got them into the lab, he helped her set bombs that Logan would set off once they were out. They then retraced their footsteps and planted smaller explosions in some of the rooms, including one in the nursery. They would go off and cause damage, but not anyone to get seriously hurt. Max, Terry and the nurses then got out, and everyone got settled on the bus as Max put a five-minute timer on a small explosion on the gates. It would go off, which would be Logan's cue to set off all the others. In all the confusion, Mat would be able to drive away.   
Everything went off without a hitch, Max looked out the back window of the bus at the flaming buildings that were now Manticore. She turned and walked to the front of the bus, sitting down in the front seat. Looking out the front window, Max saw Logan leading them towards Cheyenne, but they would pass right by and wouldn't stop until they were out of the state. She turned and looked at all the sleeping babies behind her, all with the nametags that she had asked Mat to put on them.   
Zack, Tinga, Brin, Krit, Zane, Ben, Jack, Eva, Jondi, Syl, Jace, Xander, Greg, Dee, Hoyt, Kade, Mara, Kari, Lal, Rico, Juci, Pia, and herself. The twenty-three who grew up together. And for five of the ten who did not have names, Max named them after those who had helped her. Terry, Mat and Jake, and the nurses, Mandi and Sora. For of the others, Max named Logan, Erin, Sean and Cindy, for those who were close to her in 2020. The last little girl was child number seventeen, who Max had a sudden inspiration to name Cora, to remember that they were from Manticore and special.   
  



	10. Epilogue

And here's the epilogue. Want a sequal??  
  
After getting all the children safely to orphanages and foster homes between Cheyenne and Seattle, Logan and Max were still stuck in 2001. They sat in the mall that they were in originally and talked over fries.  
"Now what? Are we stuck here forever?" Max asked.   
"I don't know. But I am tired. We used all our money on gas, so now what."  
"Looks like another night in the car." Max said, getting u p and throwing the cardboard containers out. They left the mall and went to the car, where Logan lay down to go to sleep.  
"Hey Max?" he said. There was no answer. He opened his eyes and there was no one there. Sitting up abruptly, he bumped his head, he closed his eyes and grimiced, yelling.   
"Ow! Max?"   
  
Then he woke up.  
  
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Logan looked around his bedroom.   
"Who's Max?"  
  
The End   



End file.
